Updated 26 April 2019
The inspection: We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team: An inspector carried out this inspection.
Service and service type: This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes. People using the service lived in their own flats which were located in the same building. The service is registered to provide a service to older people and younger adults with physical disabilities, learning disabilities and autism, and people with mental health conditions. At the time of our inspection it was only supporting older people and people with physical disabilities.
Not everyone using Furlong House receives a regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. For people the provider helps with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating, we also consider any wider social care provided.
The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
Notice of inspection: We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it is small, supports people in their own homes and the manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.
What we did: Before inspection: We reviewed information we held about the service, including the notifications we had received from the provider. Notifications are changes, events or incidents the provider is legally obliged to send us within required timescales.
We used information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return. Providers are required to send us key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections.
We contacted commissioners of the relevant local authorities and the local authority safeguarding team to gain their views of the care provided by Furlong House.
During inspection: We visited four people at home with their permission. We looked at three care plans, three medicine administration records (MARs) and handover sheets. We spoke with six members of staff, including the registered manager, deputy manager and support workers. We looked at two staff files, which included recruitment records. We also looked at records involved with the day to day running of the service.